McDonald's rejected it and TVs "Naked Chef" Jamie Oliver campaigned against it for years, but now the disgusting meat by-product concoction known as "pink slime" may be going to feed our kids.

I'm not a huge fan of school lunches and have complained in the past that they are too fatty and don't serve enough vegetables and fruits, but this really turns my stomach.

Now it has been widely reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently authorized the purchase of ground beef which contains 7 million pounds of "pink slime" for school lunches in the coming year. The additive is used to stretch beef to make it more cost-efficient.

However parents are fighting back and one mom, Bettina Siegel, posted a on-line petition to stop schools from serving the food to students and it garnered more than 206,000 signatures in less than a week.

Called "lean finely textured beef" by producer Beef Products, Inc. of South Dakota, the company and the beef industry say the stuff is safe. It's made by recovering beef remnants from scraps and connective tissue and treating it with ammonia hydroxide to kill pathogens like salmonella and E coli that occur in in higher concentrations in trimmings. Mixing it with ground beef and hamburger patties saves 3 cents a pound.

However two former government microbiologists say that "pink slime" was approved for human consumption by the USDA despite serious safety concerns. In the past the material was only used for dog food and rendering. Since ammonia is considered a "processing agent" by the FDA it's also not required to be listed on any food label.

Siegel's petition says "in testing for the school lunch program, E. coli and salmonella pathogens have been found dozens of times in Beef Products meat."

Celebrity chef Oliver got involved when he learned that McDonalds was using "pink slime" as a beef filler for its burgers in the USA. The filler is not used in his native England. He spoke against it on his show "Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution" and earlier this year McDonald's, along with fellow fast food joints Burger King and Taco Bell stopped using "pink slime" in its food, although they said Oliver's campaign was not the reason.

Now Siegel is asking people to sign the petition telling to USDA to stop using ground beef containing "pink slime" in the National School Lunch Program.

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Parenthood

We start off early watching television and then envisioning our American dream. As a child, we play with our babies, doll houses, and writing in our diaries. We start at the tender age of 4 or 5 looking for our prince charming to marry. Over time, we replace our crushes of princes and other Disney characters with real boys. Sometimes it is the boy that sits next to you in class or a movie star. Either way, it is getting you ready for that all important task called LOVE.........

"Pink slime" is a lean finely textured beef. It was approved by USDA for human consumption. But It is still considered unsafe by many people around the world, because it is believed to contain some dangerous forms of E. coli. Although many studies have proved it is safe to eat. It is still under controversy. Until it ends its good to avoid in school lunches.

Pink Slime controversy surrounds due to the use of ammonium hydroxide in ground beef. The ammonium treatment process was initially considered as capable of killing E. coli as well as salmonella in meat. But later it was found the process didn't work. So it is wide spread thought that pink slime is not good for school lunches.